Sumter in Sumter County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Sumter's Court Houses

By Mike Stroud, 2010

1. Sumter's Courthouses Marker

Inscription. (Front text) By Act of 1798, Commissioners were named "To ascertain and fix upon the most central place for the erection of a court house in the District of Sumter", and meanwhile "to fix upon a proper place for the sitting of the court". During 1800-01, court was held in the John Gayle home (N.E. corner Main and Canal Streets) until a suitable court house was ready for use, Jan. 1802, though not completed until 1806.

(Reverse text)
The second court house, designed by Robert Mills, was built of brick and stucco. It was authorized in 1820, completed in 1821, enlarged in 1848, and in use until 1907, serving also as a place of public gatherings for 86 years. This building remodeled is now occupied by the National Bank of S.C. The present court house, authorized in 1906, was dedicated in 1907.

Erected 1953 by The Sumter County Historical Commission. (Marker Number 43-8.)

Location. 33° 55.343′ N, 80° 20.483′ W. Marker is in Sumter, South Carolina, in Sumter County. Marker is at the intersection of North Main Street and Law Range, on the right when traveling north on North Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 141 North Main Street, Sumter SC 29150, United States of America.

Regarding Sumter's Court Houses. The Sumter County Courthouse was one of nine courthouses designed William Augustus Edwards, a prominent South Carolina architect of the early twentieth century. In 1905 seeking to replace the original 1821 courthouse Sumter County contracted with Edwards to design the new building. The building that Edwards designed for Sumter County was an I-plan courthouse, set in the center of a deep open block that ran all the way from Main to Harvin Street. The I-plan was a popular design for courthouses all over country at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Edwards displayed a strong Beaux-Arts sensibility, however, by setting his courthouse with its long axis parallel to Main Street and putting

By Mike Stroud, February 10, 2010

3. Sumter's Courthouse and Marker

the recessed entrance portico in the center of the long side. This creates the impression from Main Street that the building is really more of a rectangle with a notch carved out for the entrance. This impression has been much reinforced by the actual filling in of the rear notch in the early 1960s during a remodeling and enlargement of the building, so that it now actually has rectangular footprint. Listed in the National Register June 16, 2004.(South Carolina Department of Archives and History)

In celebration of General Thomas Sumterís 250th birthday, 1734 ~ 1984, the First Baptist Church sponsored this tree replacement in gratitude for occasional use of first court house on this site, 1802. The congregation, organized 1813, erected the first church in Sumterville, 1820

By Anna Inbody, June 2, 2012

7. Memorial on the court house grounds

By Anna Inbody, June 2, 2012

8. Overview of the Memorial on the court house grounds

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on February 11, 2010, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 941 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on February 12, 2010, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 6, 7, 8. submitted on June 3, 2012, by Anna Inbody of Columbia, South Carolina. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.